Splitting a Soul~Chapter 11
“Why are they attacking us?” Kimi asked as she tried to pull her bow out of her never-ending pocket, but it was too small in the car and she gave up. “I can’t even attack in this situation.” “Hold on, I’m going to try something,” Jack yelled and jerked the wheel, hitting the motorcyclist on our side and leaving a dent in our car. The cyclist on the other hand wasn’t fazed in the least and a second later he was back on the road. The one behind us was spinning a chain as well and hit the trunk a few times; I think I even heard our tail-light shatter. “Ok, open to ideas.” “Aisling, we need that brain of yours,” I called into the back seat, but all I got was a groan and something about wanting five more hours of sleep. Aisling wasn’t going to help much, so it was up to me. “I’m going to try something.” I opened my window and leaned out at the speed we were going, I was really hoping that this would work, but it was more of a bluff then anything. I held onto the edges of the door as best I could and my other hand began to emit blue flames. I shot a blast at the guy behind me, hoping that he would freak out and swerve out of the way, but he just plowed right through it and took another swing at our car. “Ok, I’m out of ideas,” I blurted. “I was really hoping that would at least stun him or something." “What kind of weak fire can’t even burn anything?” Jack complained before he rolled down his window and fired a small blast of snow from his hand. It hit the biker next to us in his face, but all it did was freeze his glasses. He didn’t move at all or even acknowledge that he had been hit. “What do you expect? They’re metaphorical flames!” I shouted back. “I don’t see your snow doing anything.” “Stop fighting you two!” Kimi yelled from the back seat. She reached into another pocket and pulled out a small vile with a green liquid inside. She rolled down her window, leaned out of the car, and tossed the vile, hitting the guy behind us dead on and the vile erupted into green flames. “When did you start carrying around Greek fire?” I asked her. Greek fire was pretty much the most dangerous weapon demigods had, and she had it in her pocket. “I have been saving them for a special occasion,” Kimi replied. It didn’t seem to do much as the biker ripped off his black leather jacket and tossed it into the road. The flames continued to burn away at his skin until there was nothing left but a large metal body. “What are these things?!” Jack half shouted, once again having to swerve to avoid another hit. The guy in front hit his brakes, but Jack didn’t stop and hit him full force. The biker tried his best to gain control of his motorcycle, but it ended up sliding under the car. The car made some terrible sounds and rocked like we had just driven over a speed bump at top speed. In my mirror, I saw the guy get spit out the back of the car with sparks flying everywhere and the third cyclist driving around him. Instantly, the bike corrected itself and all three were back on our trail. “I think they’re automatons. Relentless killing machines that always seem to go haywire,” I explained. Hephaestus was always making automatons of all kinds, but he always got lazy when it came to making sure they didn’t break down. The result; hundreds of automatons roaming around the country trying to kill anyone that crossed their path…or they tried to become folk singers. Ya, try to figure that one out. “We need to get off the main road and try to lose them. Get off at the next ramp.” “No time,” Jack urged before turning the wheel and we went flying onto an emergency turn off. Jack’s car busted through the gate and I wondered if the car was going to hold up for another few blocks. “Quick, over there!” Kimi ordered, pointing over to a mechanics shop called Gears and Wheels. “We can hide out until they pass.” We pulled the car into the empty parking lot and I wondered if this place was even open. We all piled out of the car, except for Aisling who we couldn’t get to wake up so we just kind of left her there. I pulled on the door and a small bell rang overhead. As we walked inside, I heard the familiar sound of motorcycles pull into the parking lot. One of them stayed outside while the other two headed our way. “Welcome to Gears and Wheels! How may I help you today?” A man said from behind the counter. He was a tall, well built guy who looked like he would be better working at a gym or a construction site. “Any chance you could hide us?” Jack question and the guy raised an eyebrow. It was then that he noticed the two guys walking toward the door. It was too late to hide as the cowboy bikers entered the shop. “Hello and welcome to Gears and Wheels. How can I…” the man said, but was cut off. “Please give up the children,” the automaton interrupted. “What have they done?” the man asked. “They have abused their mode of transportation and must be punished,” the automaton said. “What does everyone have against my car?” Jack exclaimed, obviously annoyed. “That is your car out there?!” the owner of the shop chided before turning back to the automaton. “In that case you should be punished. Go right on ahead my friend.” “Thank you,” the automaton said and took a few steps forward. I couldn’t believe this guy would just give us up like that. Maybe the Mist was playing a trick on him or he was scared of the large figure. Either way it wasn’t good for us. “Just one thing though,” the man said and placed his hand on the automaton’s shoulder. The thing froze instantly and it looked like his metal body began to ripple under his fake skin. Before long, it looks like an unseen force was crushing the automaton into a tiny square. Instead of a square, it morphed into a pair of metal fists that worked themselves around the owner’s hands. “Exterminate!” the other automaton yelled and rushed forward. The man didn’t miss a beat and punched the automaton once in the chest and then took another swing, knocking his head clean off. It’s eyes flickered an eerie red light it clung onto life. “Ex..ter…mi…nate…” By now the third automaton had caught on to what was happening and grabbed Aisling out of the car. It grabbed his chain and wrapped it around her neck. Aisling on the other hand didn’t seem to notice. We all piled outside and stared the thing down, but when we got a little closer, it pulled the chain tighter and Aisling let out a small gasp. “Just let her down gently,” I told the automaton. “Lower your weapons,” he told us as we did. I tossed my pocket knife to the ground, Kimi took off her entire coat, Jack took off his wrist band, and the shop owner let the metal fall to the ground with a loud clang. “Happy now?” I asked him. “Yes, now it will be easier to exterminate you,” it declared and began to pull the chain harder. “Aisling!” Kimi cried out. “Fine, I’ll wake up!” Aisling shouted, obviously not bothered by the chain around her neck. In one swift motion she grabbed both ends of the chain and yanked them out of the automaton’s hands. She then pulled her ax off her charm bracelet and it morphed to full form. She whipped around and hit the automaton about fifteen times in the chest in a matter of seconds. It fell to the ground, but Aisling didn’t seem to stop. She just kept hacking away at the mesh of metal, with golden oil leaking out onto the ground. “Aisling, that’s enough!” I shouted and pulled her back. She shot me an evil look and I saw her fangs had grown. As soon as she saw my face, it shifted from anger to sorrow. She turned her head down and looked at the shattered remains of the automaton that she herself had destroyed. “I’m sorry,” Aisling whispered. “I didn’t mean too. I just lost control for a second.” “Well that’s all well and good, but I think we are overlooking the main problem here,” said the shop owner and he walked passed us toward Jack’s car. “What did you do to this car?!” “My car?!” Jack snapped. “Who the hell are you?! I mean you show up and are all ‘Hey, I’m going to destroy this automaton from the inside out and then use it as a weapon to play Rock-em Sock-em robots.’ Then you go and criticize my car. What’s the deal?” “I’m Mike Geres, but you can just call me Gears. I’m the owner of Wheels and Gears, as well as a child of Hephaestus,” Gear introduced before giving us a smug look. “So as I said, how may I help you today?”